Somali president names Sharmarke as new PM
A Ugandan, African Union Mission to Somalia
(AMISOM) military peacekeeper stands guard for
Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Sharif (R)
in Mogadishu, on February 9, 2009.
13 February, 2009
NAIROBI (AFP) – Somalia's new president on Friday named Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, a Canadian-Somali national, as the war-torn country's new prime minister.
The new premier, the son of a former president but a relative newcomer to Somalia's political scene, will face the daunting task of forming an inclusive government and restoring stability to the Horn of Africa country.
"I selected Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke to be the prime minister of Somalia and I wish him success, and I will do my best in my capacity as president to help the premier fulfill his duties," President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said, reading a statement at a special reception ion Djibouti.
"I am very confident in the prime minister's ability to serve his nation," he added.
In his brief acceptance speech, the premier minister admitted he faced numerous challenges and vowed to work towards reconciliation.
"I accept the appointment by the president and I will do everything I can, to the best of my ability," he said. "I will continue to promote reconciliation and create a sense of unity among Somalis."
"The Somali people are not interested in having a government which is beset by infighting instead of helping the people. And I will closely work with the Somali people and parliament," Sharmarke added.
Sharmarke, 48, has worked with the United Nations in Sudan and Sierra Leone, holds Canadian citizenship and obtained degrees in political science and political economy from Carleton University in Ottawa.
He is a member of the same Darod subclan -- the Majarteen -- as former president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who resigned late last year.
According to Somalia's transitional charter, the president, the prime minister and the parliament speaker have to belong to three different major clans.
Sheikh Sharif, a young Islamist cleric who was elected as president by parliament late last month, is a member of the Hawiye clan.
The president announced his choice for the post of prime minister in Djibouti and said that parliament was expected to endorse him on Saturday.
The incoming prime minister's father, Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, was the last democratically-elected president of the Horn of Africa country.
He was assassinated in October 1969. Days later, Mohamed Siad Barre took power in a bloodless coup and remained there until his overthrow in 1991 plunged the country into anarchy.
Sharmarke will replace Nur Hassan Hussein, who had led Somalia's transitional federal government since November 2007 and lost in the presidential election held last month in Djibouti.
According to the charter, Sharmarke will have a month from the moment of his official appointment to pick a cabinet, which will in turn have to be approved by parliament.